Human Can Feel

Things were spiraling out of control.

I couldn't think why I'd volunteered for this, but maybe I just wanted to make a good impression on the Principal. Being the junior-most teacher in the school isn't easy, and one has to grab every opportunity one gets to shine.

Shine?

In exactly whose dreams was I going to shine?

I knew from the badly-concealed sniggers of the other teachers that there is a reason why nobody volunteers to accompany a motley crew of sixth graders on a citywide campaign promoting the adoption of rescue animals.

One has a bunch of just-become-teenagers to deal with, some bearing puppies and kittens. Puppies and kittens pee, poop and puke, and new teenagers do their thing, I won't mention it here. I was in charge of seeing they didn't. All of them, human, canine and feline.

So it's enough to say that within five minutes in the van, things had begun to spin out of control. No human, canine or feline had actually died yet, but it was a close thing not only within the van but in its immediate vicinity. The driver had already warned me that but for the fact that he'd a bet on with his seventh-grader at home that he wouldn't last an hour, he'd have quit long ago.

I'd thought I'd carried enough Band-Aids, but (important note) there are never enough Band-Aids. Where there is one Band-Aid left, blood shall appear.

Two hours into the trip, I'd drunk all the coffee in my thermos and I had a splitting headache. I'm not mentioning my other injuries, nor the state of my jeans. I am just lucky patchwork jeans are back in fashion, that's all.

Anyway, at long last it was dusk, we'd been around the city and we were pulling into the school parking lot.

There were a lot of cars around.

Parents were going to pick up the kids, yes, but -- that many parents? And what were all those balloons, and streamers and things? What's this other van pulling up alongside us?

"SURPRISE! This is News of the Day! You don't know it but our reporter has been following you around all day, and there's been live coverage of your efforts."

"Hallo!"

"Hallo, Madam Principal!"

"I gave the TV crew permission to follow you round, but didn't tell you - I wanted the kids to focus on the task at hand, not the cameras. There were cameras hidden in the van, too. You sure handled all those one hundred and three little emergencies well!"

I could only smile weakly.

"In fact," the reporter continued, "the mayor himself was impressed with the effort you put in, the enthusiasm of the kids and the results you achieved. So he's waiting in the hall to greet you."

The kids, the driver and I climbed out of the van like heroes. All the canines and felines had been adopted enroute except one, which I was given to hold against my cheek as the camera took close ups of me.

We entered the hall to a burst of cheering and a personal hug each from the mayor. The huge hall was jam packed with people. I could see my parents and brother, Mom sobbing with joy and my brother jumping and waving to catch my eye. There were some neighbours, friends, my fellow teachers ...

The mayor was talking about the city's gratitude and the reward our school would be given ...

Things were spiraling out of control.